Mercy
by MysteriousBiscuit
Summary: A new spirit appears, causing a spacequake to appear in Tenguu city, however, neither Ratatoskr nor DEM were informed of it, and this spirit has only appeared once, ten years ago. This spirit has a unique ability, one that will change the way they look at her, forever. (Characters might not be COMPLETELY accurate, feedback welcomed!)
1. Prologue & Chapter 1: Two days earlier

**Quick note, before you read this, I'd recommend reading Date A Live volume 11, there are a few spoilers in this, if you haven't. Thanks.**

* * *

><p><strong>Mercy: Prologue<strong>

"So, you don't remember?" The girl asked, her empty expression not moving an inch.

"Umm... no..?" Shido replied, "Am I supposed to..?"

The girl sighed, and looked back to Shido.

"How am I going to explain this to someone who doesn't remember a thing?" she asked herself, "Ten years ago..."

**Chapter 1: Two days earlier**

"Shidooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Tohka yelled, "Can we have burgers again tonight?"

She said that while pulling such an innocent face that Shido couldn't help but accept to her request.

"Sure, but you'll have to clear the table first" Shido replied

"Okay!" Tohka said back, nodding her head exaggeratedly.

As Tohka was clearing the table, Kotori walked in. White ribbons, not black, for once.

"Onii-chan!" She yelled, and hugged Shido.

"Eh? Oh, hello Kotori" He said back, sighing of relief when he realised she was wearing the white ribbons, for once.

Kotori sat down on the sofa, next to where Tohka was sitting a minute ago, and switched the TV over to the news.

"-Another spacequake occurred yesterday in Tenguu city, it caused widespread damage to the area, one of this size has not been seen for at least ten years," The reporter said.

"..." Both Shido and Kotori went silent _"A spacequake..? That we didn't hear of..?" _that thought went through both of their heads.

Kotori got out her phone, still staying silent.

"Kotori..?" Shido asked.

"I haven't a clue, that being said, _'There hasn't been one this size for ten years'_ that could be helpful for this one" She replied, suddenly with black ribbons in her hair.

"..."

**Fraxinus Control centre**

"Get me all the readings for the spacequake that happened yesterday, match to any known spirit signatures!" Kotori yelled to the crew.

"No readings match, commander, this spirit is unknown to us" Nakatsugawa replied.

"..." Kotori viewed the readings on the monitor.

**Spirit:**Unkown

**Spacequake size:**S

**Strength:**Unknown

**Astral Dress:**Unknown

**Angel:**Unknown

"Helpful" Kotori said.

"It would seem this spirit is new" Kannazuki said.

"Unlikely, there's apparently been a spacequake this size before, ten years ago" Kotori explained, "Get me all data for any spacequakes reported 10 years ago!" She yelled out to her crew.

"There seems to be one, commander" Shiizaki said.

"Tell me"

"Class S spacequake, the spirit wasn't there when the AST arrived, meaning her angel and astral dress are yet to be known"

"Where was this spirit located?" Kotori asked

"Same place as yesterday, Tenguu park" Kawagoe replied.

"So, what does this mean?" Shido asked.

"It means you're going to have to walk past Tenguu park every day until she appears again, stupid" Kotori replied.

"Great."

**Raizen High School**

"Good morning class!" Tamae said as she entered the room, "Oh! Almost forgot, we have a new transfer student joining our class today!"

"Ooooooh" The class made a sound as if fireworks were going off. Chatting commenced almost instantaneously.

"I wonder what she'll look like, is she cute?"

"Seem to have a lot of transfer students recently, don't you think?"

"Another one? Well, that's 3 so far."

While the class contemplated what the transfer was like, Tamae called out to the student "Okay, you can come in now."

The whole class went silent when the girl entered the room.

And then erupted in a hurricane of wolf whistles and cheers.

However, the girl did not seem to notice.

"My name is Inverma Kuruto, pleased to be-" She suddenly stopped half way when she saw Tohka and Origami at the back.

**Kuruto's POV**

_"Sandalphon? Matatron? What are they doing here?" _that thought ran through her head, then she saw Shido. "_Uriel."_

**Shido's POV**

_"Why's she looking at Origami, Tohka and I..?" _Shido thought.

She then shook her head and said "Pleased to be here"

**So, first chapter, How was it?**

**This is my first fanfic, so don't expect it to be great.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading it, reviews will be welcomed. ;)  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Invitation

**Chapter 2: Invitation**

There, in the middle of the spacequake, is a boy, a 6 year old boy.

What is he doing there? He should have taken shelter like everyone else.

"Hey! Kid! Get to shelter!" Kuruto yelled at him.

What's he wearing..? It's like it's made out of light.

He looked up, straight at me, with such an innocent face.

"Eh?" He replied, his brown eyes brimming with tears, "where are they..?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Where are who..?" Kuruto asked "Sorry, I slept through the alarm" She explained

At that point she woke up.

"That dream..." She said. "That memory..."

**Itsuka residence**

As Shido got back from school he checked the post.

"Ah, a letter" he said, grabbing it and taking a quick glance before entering the house.

"I'm home!" he shouted.

"Ah, welcome back" Kotori said as he entered.

_"Black ribbons, remember that" _he thought, putting up a mental note to himself.

"We did some research on the spirit from yesterday" she said, "It seems like this spirit has only appeared once before, ten years ago, in Tenguu park." she explained.

"Anything about her?" Shido asked

"All we know is that the spacequake size is S class, she always seems to disappear before the AST arrives" Kotori explained "However, we can guess from the spacequake size that she's powerful"

Shido sighed.

"So, this spirit's going to be a tough one?" he asked.

"I suppose, could be worse though, this one doesn't seem to go on a killing spree like Kurumi" Kotori replied.

**Kuruto's POV**

_"I still don't understand what happened that day..."_ she thought. Still thinking about the dream she had.

"sigh... this dream hasn't occured for a while, not since then..." She said to herself.

At that moment she felt a presence in the room, she grabbed the knife from a drawer and readied herself.

A voice that was indistinguishable between male or female shook her eardrums "Uriel?" It said. "You were a little... different... when I last saw you".

**Itsuka residence**

Shido opened the letter.

_The day after tomorrow, meet me at Tenguu park, I need to return something._

"Return something..?" Shido muttered to himself. "Wait, Tenguu Park? This is suspicious at best"

"Kotori" He called.

"What is it? Make it quick because I have to work on finding out more on this unknown spirit" She replied.

"W, well, I opened the letter and..." He started.

Kotori snatched the letter from his hands and read it.

"Tenguu Park?" She asked, "This is either the biggest coincidence or the stupidest thing you have ever shown me, however, we cannot leave something like this to drift"

"Right"

**Raizen High School**

"You're too close to Shido!" Tohka exclaimed

"That's my line" Origami shot back

"Uuuuugh"

Tohka and Origami are fighting again, over Shido, again.

"Can you two keep it down?" Shido asked.

He'd spent a whole night trying to figure out who sent that letter.

"hmph"

"..."

Even after Origami had been sealed, they were still like this.

Shido sighed.

"Hi shido" came a new voice.

He looked up, a girl with silver hair and black irises was standing over him.

"Huh? M, me?" he replied

_"Her voice... why does it sound familiar..?"_ Shido thought.

"Yes, who else in this class has the name Shido?" Kuruto said, her face void of emotions.

**Kuruto's POV**

_"Does he not remember?" _She thought _"Well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see"_

With that she returned to her seat.

She was still thinking about the visitor from last night.

**Shido's POV**

"Shido, who was that just then?" Tohka asked unhappily.

"It was the transfer student, Kuruto, she was introduced to our class yesterday" Shido replied. "I don't understand why she seemed to know me though..."

**Break**

"Hey, Kotori, can you get me any info on Inverma Kuruto?" Shido said into his cellphone.

"Why? If this is just because you want to stalk some girl then no" She replied.

"... Why do you jump to that conclusion?" Shido asked

"No reason, anyway, answer the question"

"She seems to know me already, it's like with Origami in the previous world"

"Oh? Well, I'll look into it, this may just be a blank, you know?"

"... Right."

**Yeah... sorry about the quiet chapter, the next one will be a bit livelier, also, just as a pre-emptive warning, I won't be able to update anything on the 1st-4th of Feb, I'm going to be away at that time.**

**Anyway, as before, thanks for reading, reviews are welcomed. :)**


	3. Chapter 3: The Truth

**Chapter 3: The Truth**

"Inverma Kuruto, 16 years old, enrolled into Nankou school at the age of 14. Ex-AST, she was kicked out for reckless actions at the age of 15. Mysteriously disappeared during a school trip 10 years ago, she was never found, as if she'd disappeared off the face of the planet" Shiizaki explained.

"Interesting..." Kotori said "Ex-AST?" she muttered, looking over to Kannazuki.

"Ah, I remember her now" Kannazuki said "Always seemed to have a rebellious attitude, disregarding commands and working on what she thought was necessary, without consulting the higher ups" he then chuckled "Always seemed to be in cosplay, back at the garrison"

"I see... that last part though... _as if she'd disappeared off the face of the planet..._" She repeated.

"I understand what you're getting at, commander" Kannazuki replied "However, unless this is a spirit that knows how to forge up a family history on it's own, it seems unlikely, aswell as the fact that no spirit waves were detected while she was in the AST."

"Hmph, you don't need to tell me things I already guessed, you know" Kotori said, launching a punch into Kannazuki's stomach.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" he yelled in a voice filled with ecstasy.

**Inverma residence**

"So, that's how it is, is it?" the [something] asked.

"Yes, that's how it is, he was too young for that" Kuruto responded.

The [something] seemed to sigh, it wasn't as if she could see it sigh, she just felt it.

A silence settled in the room.

"You're surprisingly gentle, for someone who was originally a part of an organisation that killed us spirits" it then said.

"... thanks, I guess I just questioned the orders of the higher-ups, after a while"

Silence descended once more.

Then the [something] seemed to shimmer and then disappeared.

"sigh... I guess we'll meet again, sometime" Kuruto muttered.

**Itsuka residence**

"So, you think she may be a spirit?" Shido asked.

"Yes, however, she's ex-AST, and all her family history seems to check out" Kotori explained.

"D, do you think this is Phantom's doing?" he questioned.

Kotori sighed.

"I don't know. In any case, rest for now, you've got a meeting tomorrow, remember?"

"Ye, yeah"

As Shido went up the stairs, Reine entered.

"Any news?" Kotori asked.

"... yes, but somehow I doubt you'll like it" Reine responded, in her usual sleepy tone.

"Show me"

Reine showed Kotori the video.

"So, you're thinking she's the spirit?" Kotori asked

"...going by the fact she was conversing with Phantom, yes"

"I'll tell Shido to be alert, then"

**Tenguu Park**

"Aren't you a little early, Shido?" came Kotori's irritated voice from the incam.

"Don't worry, It's fine" He responded.

"I'll take your word for it, but be careful, we think this spirit may be powerful, remember" She reminded him.

"I know, I know" He said back.

Then he stopped and gasped.

Kuruto was standing there, her silver hair reaching her hips, her slender body facing away from Shido and looking into the fountain.

"Ku, Kuruto..?!" He asked surprised at the unexpected person standing infront of him.

"You could have made a much better entrance, you know" she responded, still not turning around.

"Yo, you're the one who asked to meet here?" Shido asked, still surprised.

"Well, I don't see anyone else here, so who else is here who could have?" she answered.

"So, um... why did you invite me here?" He questioned.

She did not respond, she only put her hands to her chest as if she was trying to calm herself.

She then held out her hand, not turning round.

In her hand was what looked like a silver gem.

"I believe this is yours?" She said, no sarcasm in her voice at all.

**So, who out of you expected that? Sorry if it's a bit anticlimactic but, yeah, as I said in the description, this is my first story, I am trying my best. :P**

**I'm thinking that in the week I post every two days, weekends one per day? How's that sound? Since I have school and whatnot I don't have as much time in the week so I thought this would be reasonable.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading, feedback welcomed, as always. :D**


	4. Chapter 4: The Past

**Chapter 4: The past**

**AST garrison**

"Captain! Spirit waves detected from Tenguu Park! Unrecognised signature!"

"How big?" Ryouko asked.

"S class, seems to be concentrated to a very specific spot" another subordinate answered.

"All troops, mobilise to eliminate the spirit, sound the alarm!"

"The alarm has been sounded"

**Tenguu Park**

**"Heh?!" **Shido and Kotori's voices overlapped.

"What did she just say?!" Kotori yelled into the incam.

"Wha, what did you just say?" Shido asked Kuruto.

"I said this is yours" She replied, finally turning to face him.

"Mine..?" he muttered.

"..." She tilted her head, "So, you don't remember?"

"Umm... no?" Shido replied "Am I supposed to..?"

She sighed and looked back to Shido.

"How am I going to explain this to someone who doesn't remember a thing?" she asked herself, then "Ten years ago..."

**Ten years ago**

"An alarm was going off, I hit my alarm clock a couple of times, then fell back to sleep.

About 3 minutes later I woke up, the house was empty, and there was no one in the streets.

I'd realised that the alarm wasn't my alarm clock but the spacequake alarm, so, I panicked, getting dressed as quickly as possible, then running out of the house to head to the shelter.

As I was running past the park I saw someone, a boy, a 6 year old boy.

He was crying.

"Hey! Kid! Get to shelter!" I yelled.

He looked up at me, blue hair, brown eyes that were brimming with tears, that wasn't out of the ordinary, but his clothes...

"Eh?" he exclaimed "where are they..?" he asked, his voice quivering.

"Where are who..?" I asked "Sorry, I slept through the alarm"

"Them, everyone, they should be here, yet they're not..." he replied, his voice sounding like he was going to choke from the tears.

I then ran towards him, disregarding all common sense and hugged him.

"It'll be okay, you know?" I said, trying to sooth him, "they'll come back"

Even after I said that, he didn't seem to calm down, the tears continued to flow.

Then, when I'd put my hand on his chest to see if that would calm his heart, well... this came out, and sort of, entered me.

Then, he seemed to pass out, his clothes of light disappeared, mostly, that wasn't the weird part though, the weird part was the sudden warmth flowing through my body.

Then, I picked him up, and took him to the shelter, at the time, I assumed he was just a normal human, and now, I've found him again, older, old enough for the burden of that power that I never desired."

**Present**

A silence filled the air between the two.

A silence that was split by the sound of a spacequake alarm.

"AST incoming!" Kotori yelled into his ear.

He sent his sights up and recognised the basic CR-Unit worn by the AST. Kuruto did the same.

"Oh, the AST, what a nuisance" She said, as the gem melted into her hand again, "[Jehova Elohim]!" She shouted, as the light around her seemed to bend and form an ornate piece of armour, with a white and gold cape flowing down her back.

"Astral... Dress..?" Shido muttered, still struggling to comprehend what he'd been told a minute ago.

**AST POV**

"Spirit in sight, initiating contact, avoid the civilian" Ryouko said to her squad

"Roger" they responded

Sending her sights back to the spirit she noticed something was off...

"Kuruto...?!" she said, stopping in the air.

**Kuruto's Pov**

_"She stopped? Interesting... is she preparing to fi- wait... that face..." _She thought

"Ryouko...?" losing all sense of composure she said that, shocked to see her former training partner.

Not noticing her surroundings, she was knocked forward by the explosions of 20 missiles.

"Guh..." she exclaimed as she fell to the floor, "[Uriel]!" she then yelled, raising her hand into the air.

Once again, the light distorted, forming dual blades.

"Armageddon" she then uttered,

And, at that precise moment, the world seemed to coat itself in darkness.

The light of her astral dress dimmed, and became the shadows it repelled.

"Guh, What?! Did she just inverse out of _choice_?!" Yelled Kotori into his right ear.

**Wooooooah! More unexpected turns?**

**Anyway, Saturday's my last update until the 4th (Maybe the 7th?), I'll see y'all then. :)**

**Feedback welcomed as always. :D**


	5. Chapter 5: True Spirit

**Chapter 5: True Spirit**

_The last thing I remember... what was it... the angel, Uriel, appeared in my hands... My angel... then, my conciousness split... the dawn of what feels like an infinite dusk... oh yeah... that infinite darkness... what was that..? Was that me..? I can't remember... it happened just before my conciousness fell into this state... how do I know that... how..._

**Spirit Mansion**

At the spirit mansion, all but three of the spirits were gathered.

"Checkmate!" Kaguya yelled to Yuzuru, as ever, they were having one of their (many) competitions.

"Regret. That game should have been mine" Yuzuru replied, a small smile on her face.

"Can you keep it down you two? I'm trying to watch this" Tohka said back to them

"Yeah, it's just started getting interesting you know?" Natsumi added.

"Awww look at you two? You're like a perfect couple! HMMMPH?!" [Yoshinon] interrupted.

"S, sorry... about that" came the quiet voice of Yoshino, her hand over [Yoshinon]'s mouth.

"Don't worry" Tohka said back, "We know what she's lik-" she stopped what she was saying when she looked through the window.

"Something wrong, Tohka?" Kaguya asked

"Doesn't it... Doesn't it seem unusually dark outside..?" Tohka said.

"Consent. Yes. I seem to remember something like this before..." Kaguya voiced.

"Do you mean... an inversion..?!" Natsumi questioned.

"heeeeeeeeh?" Everyone else went.

**Tenguu Park**

"Wait, what?!" Shido yelled.

"...As I said, when she called her angel, she called upon it's final form, when that happened, she inverted" Reine explained simply.

"But... how?"

"How is not what we need to know right now, unless you mean how to seal her, if so, do like you would with the other spirits, remind her of who you are, then date her and kiss her" Kotori said.

"Ri, Right..."

**Kuruto's mind**

_What is this..?_

What looked like hell was shown to her, darkness enveloping the city, bullets of shadow being fired at everything.

_Tenguu city..?_

_Yes, Tenguu city of the previous world._

A mysterious figure was there, staring at the view of the world.

_Eh? Who are you?_

_You don't need to know, not yet, however, you like this world as it is right?_

_Well, yes, of course..?_

_Then fight for it, or it will turn into that._

**Fraxinus control centre**

"AST has made contact!" Kawagoe yelled from the bridge

"Shido is still on the ground, do we extract?" Minowa asked.

Kotori thought for a minute.

"No, let's leave him in the line of fire, if the AST's doing their jobs without the interference of DEM, we'll be fine"

"Roger"

**Tenguu Park**

"Hades!" Kuruto yelled.

"Get down!" Kotori shouted into his ear.

Shido, still unable to comprehend what was going on ducked down behind a wall, which was then blown away a second later, launching him into the air.

"Craaaaaaap!" He yelled, flying through the air.

"Shido!"

"Darling!"

"Horror. Shido, are you okay?"

"Where did those amazing flight skills of yours go?"

He looked up, standing over there was Tohka, Miku, Yuzuru and Kaguya, all wearing their limited astral dress.

"Tohka...? Miku...? Yuzuru & Kaguya...? What are you doing here...?" Shido asked.

"Hey, don't forget about us!" an unusually confident voice came from his left.

Standing there was Origami, Yoshino & [Yoshinon] as Zadkiel and adult Natsumi.

"You three too..?" He said, his brain finally starting to understand what's going on.

"If it involves Shido, I will help, no matter what" Origami proclaimed, a determined smile on her face.

Shido looked over to the darkness that was once Tenguu Park, Kuruto seemed to be holding her head in pain.

"Now's our chance!" Tohka yelled.

He looked up and saw the AST turned into robins.

"Everyone" He thought for a moment "Thank you, let's go save a spirit"

"That's the Shido I know!" Kaguya exclaimed

Putting his hand to his ear he asked

"Kotori, can you keep the AST off our backs once they return to themselves?"

"In other words, can we keep the heat off your back? Yes, we can, now get back to the spirit!"

**Fraxinus Control Centre**

Kotori looked over to Reine who had a troubled look on her face.

"What's with that look, Reine?" she asked

"...Well... she said that the Sephira Crystal she is currently using was originally Shin's, right? If that is correct, what happens when the seal is placed upon her? The crystal is transferred into Shin's body, if it was originally his then... I worry we may see a spirit get 'transferred' to a different body, and the seal, damaged"

"And the rest of the spirit's powers released into their full form..." Kotori finished.

"Yes, this spirit, Kuruto, isn't the original body for it, if it returns to Shin I fear we may see the true spirit revealed"

"Uriel..."

**Well, I'm back, later than promised, I know, but better late then never, am I right?**

**Also, sorry for the lack of an update that Saturday, I was packing to go away and it took longer than expected.**

**Feedback welcomed, as usual! :D**


	6. Chapter 6: Reawakening

**Chapter 6: Reawakening**

Mana lay on the bed, waiting for the Ratatoskr doctor to come and undo some of the effects from the magical augmentation DEM did to her when she felt it.

A feeling that something bad was happening, not just instinct though, more like a part of her was as dark as the night.

She got up, regained her balance, and started to run to the CR-unit storage area aboard the Fraxinus.

_"What is this feeling..?"_ She thought.

"Hey, Mana, we kinda need your help for this one?" came Kotori's voice from the incam in her ear.

"Oh, I left this in did I?" Mana muttered "What's up?"

"Well... there's a spirit, and... it's sort of, you know, inversed..."

"And my brother hasn't got the guts to do it?"

"No, actually, he's on the go ahead for it, it's actually that... if we go with the seal... he may sort of... stop being Shido?"

Mana's eyes widened at that sentence

"I see. What's my clearance for the CR-Units?"

"All green, we're gonna let you use the newest one though, Halvanhelev"

"Naming it after Princess's final sword, huh? An interesting choice."

"Well, it seemed relevant at the time, but don't worry about that now, get down there and save Shido's ass!"

"Roger that"

**Tenguu Park - AST POV**

"Captain! Snap out of it!" A voice came from Ryouko's left.

"Huh? Wha-?" She made a sound as if she'd only just woken up.

"There's still the spirit out there, remember?"

"Oh, yeah... right..." Ryouko muttered _"Just what happened? Why is Kuruto a spirit?!"_

Pulling herself back, she took a look at Kuruto, who seemed to be clutching her head in pain.

"Okay, all squ- Eh?!"

A bright blue line passed through her vision, not aimed at the AST, nor the spirit Kuruto, but to the civilian.

As she watched, the civilian collapsed, and a pitch black blur raced towards his body, stopping to pick him up, before disappearing, with all spirits apart from Kuruto, all of that happening within a space of 5 seconds.

"What... what was that?" Ryouko asked "Was that a CR-Unit on the thing I saw?"

"Was that... Origami... as a spirit..?" Mikie asked

**Tenguu Park - Mana's POV, 5 seconds before**

"Sorry, brother" She muttered under her breath as she pulled the trigger of the 60 cal. ready sniper in her hands, loaded with a maryoku generated incapacitation charge, instead of a 60 calibre bullet, like it usually would have, to deem the target unconscious, rather than dead.

Seeing the shot hit it's target, she deactivated the invisibility Realiser to allow more power to be sent to the thrusters on her back.

Pointing herself down towards Shido's falling body, she relayed a command in her head and she was launched at 80 mph towards him. Stopping just before she hit the ground, picking him up. A sudden feeling of weightlessness was set upon her and in the next instant she saw herself in Fraxinus' deployment area, surrounded by the 7 spirits that were on the ground with her.

"Heh...?" a confused sound rang out in the chamber they were currently occupying.

"Sigh... I guess you'll want an explanation? I'll leave that to Kotori" She said that, then, after turning her head to the left continued to the incam in her ear "Kotori, Shido is secure, the 7 spirits are safe aswell and will be heading your way shortly, I'll deal with the inversed spirit, so I'm heading back out."

"Could have been worse I guess... Come back safe, okay?"

"I will, just don't piss off the spirits, okay? Don't want them going ballistic, especially in here."

"Well, good luck."

Tapping the incam twice she turned back to the spirits.

"She should explain everything, so don't go ballistic, okay?"

**Tenguu Park - Kuruto's POV**

_10 hostiles infront, 9 behind, it's a fair fight._

Checking behind her she saw no one was behind her anymore.

"Well, this fight won't be any fun at all then" she muttered to herself, after launching herself into the air.

Sending her sights to the ten Humans infront of her, she swiped her blade from her left shoulder to the right of her thigh, sending another black wave through the air towards her target, who dodged by a fraction of a centimetre.

"Kuruto, what is going on? Why are you a spirit?!" her target yelled.

"Who are you?" She asked, sending another wave towards her.

"It's me, Ryouko, don't you remember? We were training partners for God's sake!" She yelled

"Ryouko... Training partners..." She muttered, a sudden pain rushed through her head as if something was trying to break out of her skull "What... are you doing... you... bastard!" the blade in her right hand disappearing as she clutched her head in pain.

The one calling herself Ryouko seemed to mutter something under her breath.

As she did so, an incapacitation charge hit Kuruto in the back, rendering her immobile as a sudden weightless feeling was set onto her.

"What... is this..?!" She yelled, as she fell into unconsciousness.

**Tricky one, isn't she?**

**Anyway, please, review and continue reading you legends! :D  
>Also, yes, it has been fixed, sorry about the missed date, but yeah, it's working again! Woooo!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Explanation

**Chapter 7: Explanation**

"Guuuuh" a hoarse sound came from Shido's throat.

"Shido? Shido!" a voice came from his right.

"Huh..? Where... Where am I?" He looked around, he was in Fraxinus' sick bay, once again "Why am I here..?"

"Kotori explained everything to us... it's not great" Tohka said, with puffy eyes as if she'd been crying, there was a rather large stain around where she was sitting over Shido.

"Explained what? What's up?" Shido asked.

"I'll leave it to Kotori to explain..."

She suddenly turned away and ran down the corridor.

"What was that all about..?"

His muscles ached as he stood up, and a pain shot down his back as he stretched.

Turning towards the door, he started to walk towards the bridge.

"What is going on, how long have I been out for my body to ache this much?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

As he reached the bridge the doors infront of him opened, allowing him to enter.

"Ah, you're awake" came Kotori's voice from his right.

"Yeah, um... what's going on? Why's Tohka so sad? How long have I been out?!" Shido asked

"Well, I'll answer each of these questions in the order you asked, so that your recently reawakened brain has a chance to understand what I'm saying, Reine?" Kotori said, turning to Reine.

"Well, since it was me who realised this I guess I shall be the one to explain" she said, turning to face the main screen, which started to show the video footage of the recent battle [I believe this is yours?]

"Yeah, about that" Kotori interrupted, she sounded a bit pissed off.

"We fear, since this Sephira crystal was supposedly yours to begin with that, if it were to return to your possession, it would tamper with the seals placed on the spirits" Reine explained.

"Releasing their full Astral Dress and endangering the objective of Ratatoskr..." Shido finished.

"Exactly" Kotori butted in once again.

"I see, so, why didn't you let me seal her? It wou-"

"That's where the problem arises" Reine stopped Shido "Since that Sephira crystal was yours, the seal wouldn't be placed upon it because it has been returned to it's original body"

"So... what you're saying is...?!"

"What you saw wasn't that Angel at full strength, if anything, what Kuruto has is an unstable seal upon you" Kotori said.

"What are we going to do then?!" Shido felt his voice rising.

"At the moment, Kuruto is in the quarantine facility, I doubt she's awake yet, going by the fact that you only just woke up aswell, but you can visit her in a bit if you want" Kotori stated "but for the moment, I'm answering your questions so keep your ass over here!"

"O-Okay" Shido stuttered from the sudden change in Kotori's tone.

"So, your second question, why Tohka's in this state? She heard this all for herself while you were unconscious. It's a pretty hard hit for her, but we hope she'll come around like usual. And your last question, how long have you been out, well, you've been out for a day, it's Sunday now."

"What did you use to knock me out?!" Shido yelled.

"I'll let Mana answer that one, later though, she's still recovering from overusage, I told her not to put too much power into the thrusters" she said, turning away, as if losing interest in Shido.

"Well... I guess I'll see you when I'm making dinner later then..?" He said, starting to walk out the door.

"Oh yeah, um... I'm glad to see you still as Shido... y'know?"

"... Thanks." He grimaced

He walked out the door.

**Kotori's POV**

She sighed, after seeing the door close after Shido.

"Commander?" Kannazuki looked at Kotori with a worried face.

"Don't worry" She sat down in her seat "How are we going to get this one done then..?"

"If you say so. But please, rest if this is too much for you, yesterday was a hard job. If you're stressed out y- Hyaaaaaa!" he was cut off by his own screams of painful delight.

"I don't need to relax, thank you very much, and anyway, it's not like we have that luxury at the current point in time" Kotori replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

**Eh, it's an explanations chapter. There's always quiet before a storm, right?  
><strong>

**Anyway, Thanks for reading, and I'll be more than happy about your Reviews! Stay legendary! :D**


	8. Chapter 8: Confrontation

**Chapter 8: Confrontation**

She hammered at the grey wall around her.

_Break! Damnit, break!_

Small cracks appeared, but quickly faded.

Kuruto looked around, she was in what looked like an empty room, everything seemed to be in greyscale.

**_What is this place?_**

_Huh?_

_What?_

She turned around, to see a person facing her.

She looked familiar, well, you don't forget your own face, do you? However, something about her was different, she had a solemn expression on her face, her hair fell over her left eye, and her eyes had shadows underneath them.

_And you are..?_

_Me? I am Kuruto._

_Um... that's not exactly possible._

_What do you mean, human?_

[Human?]

_Well... I'm Kuruto, that's what I mean._

They stared at eachother, neither of them moving, just staring at eachother. Then the person infront of her who also claimed to be Kuruto took a few steps forward until she was at the point where Kuruto could feel her breath.

_Do not lie to me._

She then recieved a punch to her abdomen. Doubling over from the pain she curled up on the floor.

_Weak. Like all humans, so easy to break, so fragile that you can defeat them in a single hit._

She then knelt down infront of human Kuruto.

_What... are you..?_

_Me? I am a spirit, not just any spirit, the strongest, the strongest apart from _[them].

_Who's _[them]_?_

She tried to think of who [them] was. She couldn't think of anyone.

[They] _are the one who started all this, the first spirit, their power is so strong they could eliminate an entire continent, I guess 150 million years of sleep does that to someone. But, let me tell you something. __**I'm not even at my full power.**_

_Not... even at your full power..?_

_I'll let you ponder that for a while._

During this chat, Kuruto had stood up, still holding her chest.

_So... you don't know what this place is either..?_

Bringing the subject away she asked this, to see if the other Kuruto knew anything.

_My best guess would be my mind, since when one of you humans sent me unconscious I was sent here._

_Your mind?_

_Do not make me repeat what I said._

_Sorry, I just don- wait... when you fell unconscious?_

_Yes._

_..._

_What?_

_It's nothing..._

**Quarantine Facility - Fraxinus**

Shido stared into the Quarantine area, Kuruto was still unconscious, lying on the bed.

"What is going on?" He muttered as he turned towards the door. Just as he reached the door, a sudden pain in his head occured.

"Ah!" He yelled out has he grabbed the railing beside him to maintain his balance, his vision blurred and he lost all feeling in his fingers for a couple of seconds.

"What... is this..?" he said, sinking to the floor.

Something must have been reported in the bridge because a lot of noise was occurring outside.

It was as if a lot of people were congregating outside the room.

As the door slid open, he saw Kotori charge in, a scared look on her face.

"Shido!" She yelled, crouching down to him and grabbing his face, then hugging him tightly "You're readings went off the charts! Are you okay?! What happened?!"

He looked up at his sister his vision slowly becoming more blurred.

"I... don't know..." He said as he blacked out.

**Fraxinus' bridge - 1 minute earlier**

"Intense spirit waves detected!" Mikimoto

"Where?" Kotori asked.

"Um... it's... it's in the quarantine room... and not coming from Kuruto signature matches to her's though" she said, worry in her voice.

Kotori's eyes widened upon hearing that.

"Shit!" She yelled, and ran out of the bridge.

"Commander?!" Kannazuki yelled after her, then gave chase.

**Quarantine zone - Present**

"Someone get Shido out of here!" Kotori yelled, panic in her voice "Reine?! Do you have an explanation?!"

"Maybe, since Shin was the original host, there is an unstable path between him and Kuruto, from the improper seal, close proximity may trigger the transfer of at least some of the spirit powers back to him..."

"An unstable path?!" Kotori yelled, tears forming in her eyes.

"I don't see any other explanation" Reine said, hugging Kotori "He'll be okay, it won't come to that."

**Resting Area - Fraxinus - Present**

All the spirits were gathered there, minus Kotori, plus Mana. Sitting in silence, one with puffy eyes from crying.

"So..." Kaguya decided to break the silence "Are we going to head back to the mansion? Or...?"

As she said that, Kotori and Reine walked in, Kotori looked like she'd been crying a bit aswell.

Kotori sat down, Reine beside her, took a deep breath and started to talk.

"We have a theory on what is going on, we think that, in all essence, Kuruto is the sealed form, not the true form, like us" She said, bringing gasps from her audience, as if she hadn't noticed she continued "From what she said while conscious down there, it sounds like Shido is the true spirit, not Kuruto, meaning that, if we try to seal her, it may backfire and release all of our complete Astral Dress, maybe if the scenario is at it's worst, our inversions."

This brought out more gasps of shock and wide eyes, especially from Origami and Tohka who had infact already experienced inverting, personally.

"Meaning that I am the only thing in the way of complete and utter destruction?" A voice came from behind Kotori.

**More actionless chapters! Woooo.**

**Actually, I quite enjoyed writing this chapter.**

**Anyway, review, keep reading and stay legendary!**

**-=[]-MysteriousBiscuit-[]=-**


	9. Chapter 9: Assault

**Chapter 9: Assault**

_Ah._

_Huh?_

_It's working._

She looked over to her, well, it.

_... What's working..?_

Spirit Kuruto turned to her.

She had no arm.

_What is going on?!_

_I am returning to myself._

_And that means..?_

_That means that I am go- damnit._

_Something the matter?_

Asking that got her a punch to her chest.

_I wouldn't be saying 'Damnit' if everything was okay, would I? Foolish excuse for a being._

_... Does this mean I'm stronger than your for the time being..?_

_..._

The silence confirmed her suspicions.

She punched the wall, it cracked, but the cracks didn't fade.

_What ar- No, don't._

_Why?_

_If you do, I will lose control over my body._

_..._

[Selfish bitch]

She punched the wall again.

A small hole revealed itself as she drew back her hand.

She felt a hand on her arm.

_Huh?_

_I said, __**don't. **_

_Shame._

She pulled her hand back again, smashing through the wall with all her might.

And a bright light hit her in the face.

"Huh..?" She said

She looked around, she wasn't in the park anymore, she seemed to be in what looked like an apartment.

She wasn't in her own house, though, and she felt somewhat weaker than before.

"Where am I..?" she muttered.

She pulled herself off the bed, all her muscles aching, and stumbled over to the door.

She pulled it open, a room full of **computers** and equipment much alike to what she saw at the AST using, during her time in it.

"Is this the AST barracks..?" she spoke to herself.

Then shut that thought down, if it were the AST she would be dead by now.

Going through the door at the other side of the room, she heard voices to her left, and started to walk towards them.

"...that, if we try to seal her, it may backfire and release all of our complete Astral Dress, maybe if the scenario is at it's worst, our inversions." this brought gasps from the audience around the person who said it.

Taking a few more steps to reach the doorway she said, "Meaning that I am the only thing in the way of complete and utter destruction?"

**Fraxinus' ****Sick**** bay**

He clutched his head, new, broken, memories still floating infront of him, feeling unnaturally warm, as if his blood was boiling.

_Who... No. What am I..? _He thought, while staring at the wall, a throbbing in his head.

Suddenly, the heat seemed to rise, he felt as if he had a second heart had formed in his body and his blood seemed to boil more than it already was.

A blinding light filled the room, and the pain seemed to disappear.

**AST Barracks**

"Spirit **waves** detected!"

"Where?"

"5 miles east and... 15,000 ft up?"

"Check again, that can't be right"

"It's accurate, no errors were detected"

"..."

"Captain?"

"Seems we have an aerial battle, which spirit?"

"Spirit unnamed, **matches** the most recent spirit though"

"... All squads, move out, we'll need you all. Don't fuck this up."

**Resting area - Fraxinus**

"That is one of two possibilities, yes." Reine explained, after explaining everything else that had just been explained to the rest of the spirits.

"The other possibility being?" Kuruto asked.

"The other possibility is that Shido will keep the already sealed spirits, maybe even use their power" Kotori said.

A silence fell in the room.

"Is now a bad time to say that I felt weaker than before I was knocked out?" Kuruto stated.

The sound of a loud explosion tore through the silence like a knife.

**"Alert, severe hull damage in section B"**

"I'll take that as a yes..."

Kotori, Reine, Tohka and Origami all ran out of the room, Tohka and Origami running to the left, Kotori and Reine towards the bridge.

"Well, I guess I'll just chill in here for a bit?" Kuruto asked.

**Outside the Fraxinus**

"Spirit nearby, ini...tiating.. contact..?"

"Where is it?"

"I don't know, we're in the right area but it isn't..."

A blinding light assaulted their eyes.

"Ah!"

"Squad A, cover the left flank! Squad B, block all forms of escape! Squad C, left flank! Squad D, support!"

**"Roger!"**

**Shido**

He looked about, the pain in his head was gone.

"What was that light..?" he asked himself.

Tohka and Origami ran in, then stared in shock.

"... What is it..?"

"Shido..."

"Why are you..."

"Wearing astral dress..?" Tohka finished Origami's question.

"Heh?!" Shido made a stupid noise.

He looked down to see the ornate armour that was worn upon Kuruto the day before.

"Why _am _I wearing this?!" He yelled.

Suddenly the ship rocked as if it had been hit by something, Tohka and Origami fell into Shidos arms, almost as if they'd taken a chance...

"Um... can you two loosen your grip a little..?" He managed to squeak out while restraining a tiny bit of embarrassment.

"Can you carry me Shido? I don't think I'll be able to walk while the ship's shaking this much" Origami asked on his right.

"Shido, carry me please? It's too shaky!" Tohka said from his left, her eyes so innocent it was impossible to turn down.

"No. He's carrying me." Origami replied.

"Actually he's carrying me, stupid Origami." Tohka retorted.

Shido sighed, he should really be used to this by now, even if he wasn't.

He picked Origami up, and slung her his right shoulder, with surprising ease.

Then did the same for Tohka but on the other shoulder.

He then ran out of the room with no problems, and headed towards the bridge, still carrying Tohka and Origami.

Another shake ran through the ship.

"Guh, what is attacking us? DEM?" he asked

"Probably." Origami replied, without hesitating.

**"Protect realiser damaged" **the alarm sounded from the bridge.

"Shit." Shido said, as a section of the ship was blown out behind him.

"Shido! _Shido!_" Tohka yelled

* * *

><p><strong>1000 words for 1000 views.<strong>

**Well, sorry for the long delay, 1000 words, laziness, and a lack of ideas never helps.**

**So... I'm bad at keeping to schedules, I'll upload whenever I can, if you don't mind?**

**Anyway, review, favourite and stay legendary!**

**-=[MysteriousBiscuit]=-**


	10. Chapter 10: Return

**Well, this is the last chapter for this bit, mainly because this volume was about the Kuruto/Shido arc, not the spirit who I have yet to mention, can you guess who? Anyway, she's the one for this next arc, I'll start my new story soon though, so keep checking my profile if you like my style of writing, I guess?**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10: Return<strong>

Shido threw Tohka and Origami forward "Hold onto something!" he yelled.

Before he had the chance to grab something, he was launched out of the ship as it de-pressurised.

"Shido! _Shido!" _he heard Tohka yell, Origami apparently hadn't noticed.

**Outside the Fraxinus - 5 minutes before**

"No sign of the spirit, captain. We've swept the who-"

"What is it?"

"DEM"

"Son of a-"

Ryouko turned around to see a squad of ten people, all wearing CR-Units, flying towards them.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"We're here for the spirit" the DEM wizard replied with no hesitation.

"Well, it's not here"

"Think again" they said, firing a shot to their left, which seemed to hit air.

**"Heh?!"** the AST wizards behind her were as surprised as their captain, that shot had hit air.

"If you'd let me explain, there's an airship there, it protects the spirits, I'm not allowed to say anything more" the DEM wizard explained briefly, "That spirit we're both looking for is in that airship."

"..."

"Fire at it then, just look for the shimmer in the air, looks a bit like a heat-haze"

She fired at the shimmer that she saw.

The shot exploded, as if it hit something solid.

"All squads, fire at the invisible airship!" the DEM wizard yelled.

Ryouko sighed as the DEM squads started firing.

"Well, we'd better do the same, all squads, fire upon the unidentified airship." She said.

**Outside the Fraxinus - Present - Shido**

He looked about. 15 wizards were around him.

He then realised that he was flying.

"..." A silence ensued.

It went for what felt like hours, even if it was only a second.

Then they started firing at him.

He launched himself into the air, leaving a trail of light behind him, while shouting out the name of his recently reacquired angel.

"[Uriel]!"

A light blue glowing mark appeared on his hand, it was in the shape of two crossed swords.

Immediately, the dual blades that he had seen Kuruto using yesterday materialised in his hands, though, they didn't seem unfamiliar, in fact it was quite the contrary, it was as if he'd wielded them for years beforehand.

"[Sandalphon]!" he yelled out, another mark appeared, this time on the opposite hand, it was in the shape of a broadsword.

The two one handed swords merged to form one large broadsword, Sandalphon

"Mother f-" two of the AST members shouted, just before they were knocked out of the sky by the wave of energy Shido sent their way.

He then flew down towards the leader of the DEM wizards, at a speed that made him just less than a blur, cut off their thrusters and broke their sword.

And everything stopped, apart from him.

"What the..?" he said, looking around.

Everyone seemed to be frozen.

"Kihihihihihi" he heard a spine chilling laugh come from behind him.

He knew that laugh all too well.

"Kurumi" he muttered.

"My my, little Shido, it seems it was wise to leave you till later"

He turned around, hovering there was Kurumi.

She was as disturbingly beautiful as ever.

"What do you want." he asked.

"Oh my? Did you already forget my objective, Shido?" She replied, a slightly psychotic smile on her face.

"No, I didn't. You wanted to eat me, wasn't it?" he said, talking as if he were talking to an old friend.

"Ah, so you do remember"

"You know, you should pay more attention to your surroundings, Nightmare" came a voice to Shido's left.

Kuruto was standing there, in similar astral dress to Shido, and with [Uriel] wielded instead of Sandalphon.

"Oh? Where did you hear of my little nickname?" Kurumi asked, her smile even wider than it was.

"I fought you a couple of times, 10 years ago? I doubt you'd remember so far back, but I was there" Kuruto answered.

"Ah yes, you, I thought I'd seen that face somewhere before, how'd you stay so young? You are a human, after all."

"I guess the [other world] has the effect that it stops you from ageing, I should be 26, according to all my birth records" Kuruto explained.

"May I ask how you aren't frozen in time aswell?"

"I guess being a spirit helped a bit"

"Then why aren't Tohka, Origami and the others here?"

"Ah, that would be my fault" Shido butted in "Since I sealed their powers they don't exactly have their... protection from these sorts of things"

"My my, how cruel of you Shido" She laughed "How fortunate for me, though"

A rifle and pistol shot up into her hands.

And she summoned her angel.

"[Zafkiel]!" She yelled

"[Uriel]!" Kuruto yelled at the same time.

* * *

><p><strong>So, the final chapter of this volume, how was it? Good? Bad? Leave feedback, I'll implement any ideas I think necessary into the next volume(s?).<br>**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, Mercy Vol. 2 will be out whenever, so check my profile after a few months of waiting and it should be there! (Should, no guarantees).**

**Anyway, my next story will probably be either a SAO/DAL crossover, or a DAL/RWBY crossover, only time will tell!**

**-=[Mysteriousbiscuit]=-**


	11. ProloguePreview thingy

**This is only a Preview to my next story, it is not related to the story, Mercy, in any way (apart from the DAL characters and anything related to DAL at all, anyway).  
>If you would like to read this, once it's uploaded, it should be in the crossover section of Sword Art Online &amp; Date A Live.<br>I will start work on Mercy Vol. 2 at some point after this story.**

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue:<strong>

Shido walked down the street, looking through the shop windows to see anything that took his fancy when something caught his eye.

There was a giant poster with someone who looked like Tohka on the front. He stared at the poster for a second, confused, he then looked down towards the words down at the bottom, which seemed to be the main title of whatever it was advertising.

"_Date A Live online_?" He muttered out loud. Then noticed the company name written underneath it and sighed. "Ratatoskr gaming co. seriously?" he said to the communicator in his right ear.

The commander of the ship known as Fraxinus responded almost instantly.

Said commander also happened to be Shido's little sister, Kotori.

"Yeah, you got a _problem_, Shido?"

"No, it's just you could have been more subtle, you know? What if DEM notices?

"They won't, stop worrying."

"Right..."

"Oh, almost forgot, a copy of the game and an amusphere have been sent to our house."

"Heh?!"

"Consider it practise, for any circumstance,_ Shiori~_" Kotori emphasised the last word, excessively so, and Shido shuddered as he remembered what he had to do to seal Miku (even if he was able to seal her while she knew he was a man).

"So, when does this 'practice' start?" Shido inquired.

"As soon as you get home, hopefully. Once you've eaten and all, first though." Kotori finished, muttering something quiet that Shido couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Just get your shopping done and get home!" Shido noticed that Kotori's tone had changed a bit, she sounded a tiny bit… embarrassed?

"Kotori, what did you say?" Shido said, more demanding than friendly this time.

"I said it's nothing!"

"Whatever you say, _commander_."

* * *

><p><strong>Woooo! Prologue-Preview thingies!<strong>

**This is just a preview, over the next few weeks I'll be typing up the first chapter, I'm aiming for it to be about 1000-2000 words, if possible.**

**Anyways, stay legendary, and reviews will be welcomed for this upcoming story (and my first – Mercy).**

**-=[]-=+Mysteriousbiscuit+=-[]=-**


End file.
